UMI Japanese Eatery & Udon Bar

I LOVE THE RAINBOW PEARLS! the day we were there, the pearls were blue and tasted like Cotton Candy!!!
the service though? needs MAJOR attitude adjustment. I would have given the place a four star rating if it weren’t for the poor attitude with the service.
I will go there again though, the coloured pearls are too cool too pass up!

I would give this place 3.5 stars if I could. Overall, it’s not bad for food court pre packaged sushi. It’s not often you find aburi sushi at a food court. Their salmon aburi is pretty good. Their other sushi is pretty much on par with an average sushi restaurant. Bonus here is you get a buzzer for the food that takes longer to make like udon. So you can sit at your table and wait for the buzzer to go off to collect your food!

To be fair, I had premade, end of day sushi — buy one get one 50% off. If I don’t get food poisoning, I’d probably up my rating. Shrimp and avocado roll and tuna maki. The shrimp roll was saved by the mayo type sauce on top but the tuna maki was bone dry — likely from being refrigerated all day. I’d eat here again and maybe try hot food or something else freshly made.

Located in Richmond Center’s 2^nd floor Dining Terrace, Umi occupies the most real estate compared to the other fast food joints with their own dining area too. So I was hoping the food would taste better than average food court food. It didn’t.
I had the Spicy Salmon Aburi because I was curious how food court Aburi would taste. When I ordered, the cashier asked if I wanted the pre-​made ones in the pre-​packaged take-​and-​go fridge for ppl in a rush. I didn’t even check out this section but my gut said, pre-​made Aburi… uh…no. I opted to wait the 5min so they gave me a buzzer. The Aburi I got did have the right taste, the rice had the right flavor and texture, the salmon was a bit chewy and not the best but also didn’t ruin the sushi, and they had diced jalapeños on it. It was OK for a $ 9 food court Alburi.
I also ordered a mini-​beef teriyaki don ($ 6) which came with yam and broccoli tempura. The meat was tough, the tempura were chewy and tasted like they’ve been out for a while, and it was your typical food court teriyaki sauce. Was it better than Tokyo Joe’s? No, but not worse either. Overall, it was definitely just food court level food.

The dining terrace is pretty nice and modern, so presumably the food would be pretty good as well. The udon I got (teri-​something, forgot the name already) was decent and filling. The broth was alright, their sushi was alright, and their fried chicken was alright as well. Nothing that was a huge WOW factor, but also nothing that made me think it was a horrible place.
But, their service was very good and well organized. They have a buzzer thing that let’s you know your order is ready. Really efficient!

Pretty good for food court food! They’ve got a wide selection of sushi, donburi, and udon, as well as some other appetizers. I tried their takoyaki, ($ 5) and tempura and udon ($ 8). Portions were good value for the money and the food tasted pretty good. Definitely not a phenomenal Japanese food experience, but way better than most of the other food court options in Richmond Centre.

worst experience of SUSHI EVER!!! I had a Vegetarian Bento Box and asked for steamed veggies instead of the tofu. They filled it with onions… no flavour no veggies. The tempura veggies they put 2 tiny, tiny pieces in there, the salad was all brown lettuce and a few strands of thin carrots and no dressing. The tempura usually comes with a dipping sauce and nothing… and the avacado roll was sliced to the tiniest smallest suchi roll ever — all for $ 9. Could have had a better vegetarian meal at U-​Grill! What a waste.

being in the richmond center dining terrace, youd think they would offer decent food to be able to cover the enormous rent. unfortunately, they come short on 2 separate occasions including a few weeks ago.
Contrary to their presentation, the sushi is often marred with issues. One such issue with my sushi set from the take-​out fridge was that the nigiri/​sashimi combo, the fish was frozen still. I had doubts when selecting this particular box, mostly due to the uniform «blockyness» my salmon sashimi looked, almost like it was frozen still. My perception was correct but only after trying to take in a huge chunk of the frozen fish. I quickly asked for some replacement fish if possible, but instead of replacing only the sashimi, the manager threw out my nigiri aswell… which was edible. He replaced my WHOLE meal with pre-​sliced nigiri salmon pieces to make up for my frozen sashimi, which i was very disappointed with.
The other time in which i ordered from here was near the days they first opened. That time, it was more of a communication error than bad food, but such erroneous mistakes should be avoided. I wanted a chicken UDON, but they gave me a chicken DON… :(those are 2 different meals with different carbohydrates. Again, while the chicken don wasnt bad, it still let a pretty poor taste and impression in my mind. This recent time around, definitely sealed the deal that i would never return to this establishment.
Looks are decieving, but reviews are not, stay away!
A poor One, out of Five.

I had Chicken Bento box. The Chicken tasted awesome. The teriyaku sauce is the best! I don’t feel I am eating at a food court… Loved this place

Giving it 4 stars for the pearl milk tea, but other than that the food is mediocre. It’s decent for food court food, though. Aburi sushi is quite dull and their other rolls are normal rolls you’d expect from a place like this. Wouldn’t recommend buying food here unless this was the only option for you but the Pearl milk tea is soooo good. If you like milk tea, you’ll love the Pearl milk tea. I don’t even like pearls but these pearls are great despite the cancerous effects.

Very big food court vendor inside Richmond Centre. Lots of options, food, sushi, drinks and even desserts.
Best place for breakfast. I go here for 3.99 $ udon which is crazy. I can’t even buy a packet of udon and make it for that price! Yes there’s no meat, but the inari puffs and tempura bits in their amazing broth and udon noodles is a great way to start the day.
Their aburi sushi is… questionable but it’s passable for foodcourt quality. Not torched enough in my opinion. And it takes a long time to make.
Their rolls and such are in the fridge mostly so when you get it there’s a very high possibility that it’s stale and not fresh. I did have a roll that was rock solid, not a big deal, but be sure to squish before picking!
Friendly staffs and they give you a buzzer and let you know when your meal is ready which is awesome because you can go browse around.

Everytime I come to Richmond I go here for a crazy cali roll. I have not tried anything else on the menu but I wouldn’t ever want to because the crazy cali roll is so amazing! If the ones aren’t fresh in the cooler, ask them to make it fresh for you. It should still be warm when you eat it!

The sushi was terrible. The sushi rice was not fresh at all … It’s very very dry… Sashimi was ok but not as fresh as it should be… Anyway, it’s really a wrong place to have Japanese food… Seriously, I won’t spend any penny on their food again!!! Very disappointed… Don’t Eat There!!!

I had a bubble tea and a frozen dessert here and while both were fairy adequate; the abysmal level of service ruined the experience.
Long wait times, uncommunicative clerks, and repeated apologies with no actual change in behaviour have compelled me to write this place off for quick desserts.

This just doesn’t do it for me, really, no, I was thinking 3 but as the rating goes, I have experienced better, Hawaii would be one, and now in Seattle would definitely be another. I was awed, wowed, my hopes and prayers were lifted that a true fresh udon joint was to hit the GVR and my cravings would be met, I came in with great hope and left with a puzzled look.
Coming into this mall, where the food court once was, and the theatre of yesteryear once stood, now there is an escalator to the ‘Terrace’ to a very pretty display of food vendors and a great place to eat. Craving for the notorious thick Japanese noodle, and living in the memory of my vacation in Waikiki and Murakami (look it up, and you will know udon) so coming here I had expectations. This city and the trend has been to ramen so it’s hard to find any fresh ‘made-​on-​the-​spot’ udon joint anywhere and when I heard of this I was just waiting to strike. Coming here with my dear, we made two orders, hers was a hot soup based one (nabeyaki) and mine one of the cold udon (Zaru) dishes with some sauce. It’s amazing how different heat can make udon, if you don’t believe me, try two bowls and take a bite!
The excitement wore off when we got our food and sat down to eat, it looked good, but the bite was off. Starting with the hot one, I think I’ve eaten udon too many years of my life, from restaurants to food courts, to that nice vacuum sealed mini square packaged cheap stuff at the grocery store to the frozen 5 flat that is a bit more expensive I have seen it all and this fresh udon in the hot broth was below the standards of the cheap 25 cent vacuum sealed pack. Lacking bite and life it was like the noodles were sitting in water a little too long where if it sat in the soup any longer I’d be scared it would disintegrate into mush. I remembered that my dear ordered a nabeyaki udon, I remember everywhere this dish is ordered, usually there is fish cake, where is my mysterious fish that is mashed up into cool colorful cake???
My Zaru udon was a lot better than the hot soup based one my dear had, the noodles did not lose their bounce, their bite, and their thickness as if you compared the two noodles you would have thought you were eating a completely different product. Each of the dishes came with a variation of fried things. Mine came with some chicken karaage, and my partner’s dish came with some tempura shrimp and vegetables. Something tells me that they were under a heat lamp a little too long… if you have had fresh from the fryer tempura you will understand.
Your probably asking me «what the hell, it is food court fast food», and here’s my comeback on you. Go up to the Terrace, take a look at how much real-​estate this place takes up in the food court, they aren’t lacking in preparation space compared to a tiny food stand we are used to seeing in another food court, they practically have restaurant room here. I will give them props for the pager they give you to hold and to come back once your order is complete. They have cool seating with the green coming off their big sign to give you a zen lke feel. In the end it’s about the product, and comparing to Hawaii, and now, recently, in Seattle, those places are practically fast food joints and know how to produce udon, quick, fast cheap and good, with all the side fixings. I can see your making these noodles from scratch but you can’t trick me in what real good udon taste like!

It’s all about the tantoro (sp). katsu don for me, this is one of the only places in town that does pork cheeks at all. The udon is also great, BUT I crave the katsu don when I stand there in front of the menu.

I may sound overly harsh by giving this place a 2 star but I believe my sayings have merits. I like freshly made noodles, pastas, ramen, udon, you name it I’ll eat it. I was stoked to find there’s a food court that sells freshly made udon. What my partner and I ordered were, let’s be nice here, disappointing.
I ordered a Nabeyaki udon and my partner ordered a Zaru (chilled) udon. My bowl came with barely warm broth and soggy lifeless noodles, with a slightly overcooked spring egg, chopped green onions, and pieces of fried tempura batter. My «Nabeyaki» stuff came on a separate side plate. The plate has shrimp tempura, fried yam, broccoli (which was bitter and limpy), carrots, mushroom. All the fried stuff was heavily battered. I didn’t enjoy the thick tempura coating very much especially they came out soft and not crispy. One of the key ingredients, the sliced fish cakes, was missing. And usually there is some sort of leafy vegetable in the soup but that was missing as well. Because I understand every establishment has its own version of what to put in the Nabeyaki udon, I am not going to hold this place accountable for a missing fish cake or missing veggie. What really disappointed me was that there is no reason why my noodles should be soggy in barely warm broth. If it’s piping hot broth, sure, then it’s reasonable to expect soggy noodles. And no I don’t believe I should be easy on reviewing this place because it’s a food court stall. I paid my hard earned money and I think I should get what I deserve. My food was a solid 2 stars.
My partner’s Zaru udon was better because it was chilled so the noodles were actually bouncy and al dente. I enjoyed it.
Overall, I give it a 2.5 stars.

Food was pretty good for food court quality.
A bit pricey. It came to almost $ 20 for 2 people (2 meals) including taxes.
There’s an area behind Umi, right by the windows, for only Umi customers to eat.

The Dining Terrace at Richmond Centre is pretty nice: clean and modern. The most eye-​catching restaurant in the food court would have to be Umi. I got the udon noodle soup with tempura, and it was pretty good. The broth was nice, and the noodles are freshly made. It kind of reminded me of Marukame Udon in Honolulu, only more corporate-​feeling (doesn’t have the same fun, hole-​in-​the-​wall atmosphere).
For 8.00, it was a pretty good deal. They also serve bento boxes and to-​go sushi: I’ll have to try that next time. For something quick and cheap, Umi (and the Dining Terrace) is a good option if you are in the area.
P. S. Park in the upstairs lot if you just plan on going to the food court: it is closer.

The Richmond Centre has opened it’s long awaited «Dining Terrace», an impressive & diverse new food court. To kick off our maiden voyage we introduced our taste buds to «UMI Japanese Eatery & Udon Bar». Visually one of the most appealing restaurants in the Dining Terrace. Jellyfish, clams and other sea life shaped ornaments hang from the ceiling and my wife was reminded of Las Vegas once viewing their neon lights. They also have a unique japanese style seating area, counter seats (where you can watch the cooks work in their open kitchen) and a Snow Ice station for dessert.
Sources tell me that they are the only restaurant in Vancouver that produces fresh udon right on the spot (a very soft and doughy noodle). With their open kitchen concept you can watch as the noodle is produced and it does draw a crowd of onlookers, snapping away with their smart phones.
For dinner we enjoyed a great meal composed of their Chicken Teriyaki (with veggie tempura), Mini Ebi Mayo (tempura fried shrimp), Kamatama Beef Sukiyaki (Udon, a cold poached egg with sliced beef) and Mango Snow Ice (with coconut jelly & fresh mango). Everything was delicious, fresh and of amazing quality for a food court restaurant.
UMI is definitely worth checking out for lunch or dinner (they also have an assortment of pre-​packed sushi for anyone on the go).